Ruby Stardust (Ruby Rose fanfic)

INTRODUCTION (ISELEN POV)

Do you know that guy from History Chanel who talks nonstop about the Ancient Astronauts theory? According to him, intelligent extraterrestrial beings visited Earth and made contact with humans in antiquity and prehistoric time and were responsible, in varying degrees, for the development of modern cultures, technologies, religions and even human biology. They taught us how to farm the land, tame cattle, build pyramids, geometry, calculus, astronomy, how to sail, make beer and all those things that meant a step forward for humanity more than 10,000 years ago... they took us from caves and helped us to build cities with walls and of course they had sex with humans and we became hybrids. I always thought that his "Krusty the Clown" hairdo didn't help at all to give credibility to his theory... who would have thought he was right?

Because he was right: aliens really visited us thousands of years ago and they mixed their DNA with ours, taking advantage of the evolutionary leap that it meant for our brain, they taught us part of their knowledge and technology. They made us smarter, stronger, they laid the foundation for our first civilizations and then left, leaving us alone to face our destiny. The inhabitants of those old cities called them Anunnaki although they didn't understand the meaning of the word, it was the way humans pronounced the difficult name of their race since they didn't know the aliens language. Many of those theorists who talked about ancient astronauts thought that we were some kind of genetic experiment to have fun while they pillaged the natural resources of the planet, or maybe they made it in order to have a cheap workforce to send them to extract minerals in the mines. Well, it wasn't that... we were actually their gene pool.

Those aliens came back, little by little because they didn't want to scare anyone, they investigate us from afar, checked how much we'd improved and how mediocre we were on other areas of life and then they visited us, had meetings with the political and financial leaders they considered more reliable and started a campaign of image and marketing. During the next two years, ordinary mortals were informed about several technological advances, evidences of microbial life on other planets, UFO sightings... gradually, taking control of the news and the reaction of humans to them. They weren't fake news actually, they didn't tell us the whole truth instead... Some aliens showed themselves, although we didn't know what they were back then, and became famous movie or TV stars, politicians, scientists, businessmen. The fact that they looked like us helped a lot, we're distant cousins after all, but they're taller, more beautiful, more intelligent, stronger... more everything.

They dropped the bomb one day and explained us that things were better in our world thanks to them, that the energy revolution that would allow us to get rid of fossil fuel was their brilliant idea, air quality was better thanks to them, recent advances in medicine and research were an achievement of their scientists, the recovery of the Amazon rainforest and the coral reef had already started, wars would end soon thanks to safer weapons technology... and if someone insisted on sustaining the conflict the number of innocent civilian deaths would be lower. All of them were great news. We saw only a few scenes of panic and confusion at the streets and resistance was insignificant even among sceptical and religious sectors of the population, they knew us well by then and knew how to control information too, and people welcomed them with open arms once it became clear they weren't here to eat us or plunder natural resources. What did they want, then?

They wanted to get their gene pool back. Apparently, when your advanced civilization has ruined the home planet thousands of centuries ago and has become nomad, exploring outer space in order to find new resources, it can happen that you arrive to a new world where there're unknown virus and bacteria and a major epidemic for which you don't have a cure can attack the population every now and then. Even if you manage to develop a vaccine most of those times, it can happen that too many members of your race die all at once every thousand years and your survival is at stake. They learnt after a bad experience that they could mix their DNA with other compatible races and keep those individuals in their planets in reserve in case they needed them... and they need us now. An unknown outbreak killed nearly one third of their population some years ago, above all women for a reason they never told us, and they decided to come back and take a look at their cousins from Earth.

This is the deal basically: Anunnaki will share their vast knowledge with us and improve the life of humankind in ways we can't even imagine in exchange of willing partners. It's as simple as providing them with a DNA sample and they check compatibility, finding your ideal alien boyfriend or girlfriend and then, courtship begins. If it goes well, we can celebrate. Of course, they've promised to respect stable human couples even if the test shows that a member is compatible with one of them. They aren't here to force us, they only need volunteers... and the truth is that a lot of people volunteered and 99% of couples are a great success because they're perfect. Handsome, intelligent, strong, they offer a long life without illness thanks to their technology, in a society where everybody lives peacefully and works for the benefit of the community... a perfect dream. Some girls are already pregnant and they look really happy and in love. For what I've seen, aliens don't behave arrogantly despite they're superior to us and they really treat us like we're beloved family members that they've met after long time traveling.

But I don't believe a single word. When something looks too good to be true, then it's not true. I understand what they're doing it and why they're doing it, I also think their strategy is very smart and it's pretty clear they will get more things by fair means than imposing themselves by force. But thinking rationally, if there aren't enough female volunteers and the survival of their race is in danger... are we sure they won't force us to do their DNA tests and carry their babies? They're smarter, their technology is better, I'm convinced they haven't showed us all their weapons, they'd be stupid if they don't have an ace hidden up their sleeves... they could take control of the whole planet in a few hours and do what they want with us. And I don't understand why everybody around me seems so happy with their arrival and they don't have any doubt. Yes, it's great that they're willing to share their knowledge but, are we sure about the price we're going to pay? Because I I'm not sure this situation will end up in a peaceful way. But there're only a few that agree with me and they barely complain from the corners of the internet, there's not an organized resistance that can exert pressure to demand some minimum guarantees of safety and aliens have "parked" their massive ship near the moon during the past year but far enough so they don't interfere with the force of gravity of the Earth or our satellite. They visit this planet constantly, spending weeks here and you can run into one anywhere.

But I'm very careful... and a bit paranoid, which helps me a lot. I live in a small village, close to the highway that leads to the capital but we aren't interesting for aliens. People raise cattle and farm the land the same way they've been doing for centuries and maybe they get some extra money renting their houses for rural tourism or from climbers and skiers that stop here on their way to the mountains. Families know each other forever, generation after generation, and our major has been elected for more than 10 years just because no one wants to stand for election and he does a good job. I'm the owner of a small flower shop that I got from my grandparents situated in a picturesque street halfway between the church and the cemetery. Business is good given that I'm the only flower shop here: weddings, funerals, anniversary presents, christenings, Saint Valentin... I've been making flower arrangements for the last five years for all the important events in the life of this village and I know well all my neighbours. It's a peaceful existence and I only allow myself two week vacation every year to travel far away, where nobody knows me.

Fortunately, my health is excellent and it's been a while since the last time I visited my doctor. I don't trust them... they've been handing some papers this past week every time you go to the office requesting permission to add your personal data to a new database... Bullshit. I'm pretty sure they're behind this and are gathering DNA samples of the whole population. My neighbours think I'm a crazy paranoid but I know something weird is going on. And I don't want to be part of it, I don't want to find my perfect alien boyfriend... our relationship would certainly be doomed to failure.

Yes, I have too many books going on at the same time and this is getting ridiculous. It's @kawtara488 fault, she's been pestering me for months to write an alien Ruby so you can make a complain through her DM...  I'm washing my hands of the whole matter.

Anyway, as always: thank you for reading, voting, commenting and forgiving the mistakes of this Spanish speaker who keeps commiting grave crimes against Shakespeare's language. Love you all. Be patient, I'll be updating my stories in rotation as fast as I can.